The Dealmaker: Lessons from a Life in Private Equity

by Guy Hands

An inside account of the multi-billion pound world of private equity and a masterclass on the art of deal-making.The Dealmaker is a frank and honest account of how a severely dyslexic child who struggled at school went on to graduate from Oxford and become a serial entrepreneur. It describes Guy Hand's career in private equity, first at Nomura and then as head of his own company, Terra Firma. It looks in detail at the huge deals that Terra Firma has done over the years, involving everything from cinema chains and pubs to waste management, aircraft leasing and green energy. And it offers a brutally honest appraisal of the deal that almost bankrupted him - the acquisition of multinational music recording and publishing company EMI in 2007, just as a global financial crash loomed on the horizon. Above all, he gives the reader a real sense of what it's like inside the secretive world of private equity, describing in frank detail the pressures and rewards involved. Insightful and page-turning, The Dealmaker will prove inspirational and essential reading for all those who want to understand how huge business negotiations are done, and what makes one of private equity's biggest players tick.

Genres: Business, Biography, Finance, Nonfiction

339 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 4, 2021

Reviews

[Alistair Jeffery · Rating 3 out of 5]

A heavily ghost-written and selective review of Guy's career, interestingly focusing on some of his more disastrous deals (EMI in particular) but with plenty of interesting anecdotes and some pearls of wisdom scattered through it. He is refreshingly honest about his mental health challenges, but undermines that by skipping quickly through episodes in which he's legged people over...

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book - easy reading about someone who has clearly led an interesting life.

I enjoy books about business and I enjoy autobiographies, yet I felt this book lacked some of the technical depth and insight as others in the space, and also the deep personal introspection of a truly great biography - it felt a bit surface level. I similarly felt that I would like to see an account by a third party of these events, to broaden my understanding, since it felt quite a personal (and probably beneficially edited) narrative.

Nevertheless, I did feel like I learned a lot about his thought process, and I did appreciate the candour in respect of his failures.

[Harry Charles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Self-important and self-apologist tone throughout. Basically a memoir of a rich guy pleading "making loads of money through cutthroat business doesn't make me a bad guy." I think he is mostly trying to convince himself of this, which is a bit of a boring and cringe premise for a book.

[Maarten · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book starts out slow, covering in detail the younger years of Guy. However, I really enjoyed reading the part that came next. Guy is honest about his shortcomings (how can you continue to live like this for so many years with so many warnings??), and describes the deals and what it did to him in detail. I appreciate the reflections he shares, and how the sacrifices he made to do deals have not been worth it in the end.
I'm not sure if the book covers his full story as I've never heard from him before.

[Mallika Saharia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brilliant white guy trying to sound humble about his brilliance. Throw in a smattering of luck here and there, maybe some “wisdom” around the importance of hard work, smart work, and an appetite for calculated risk. et voilà, a Billionaire.

[Alona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this! I wanted to learn more about private equity and this was a good way to do so as it wasn’t too like intense but more his life story. Enjoyed hearing about it and was a good read!

[Ugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a 326-page book that doesn't arrive at private equity until page 91. There's 60-odd pages of school and university life. Then there's some time at Goldman as a bond trader, in which Hands appears to have been genuinely talented, but Michael Lewis told it better. There's about 100 pages on one private equity purchase - of the music label EMI - of which about half is a detailed account of a misguided attempt to sue Citigroup. My point being: there isn't actually much here about private equity or business in general. What there is on that is good, but lacks depth. And that's especially true of how investors in Hands' third and final fund lost half their money. Plus, no way in hell does this "read like a thriller" or "grip from the first page", as cover quotes from The Times and Money Week proclaim. I can only assume that their reviewers must have read an actual thriller of the same name instead. It's not actually a bad book - enough ghostwriters (four are thanked) and editors must have worked on it to give it a decent polish. But nor, I'm afraid, is it a particularly good one. Two and a half stars seems about right; in the absence of the half-star option, I'm afraid I'm inclined to be miserly.

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guy Hands is extremely extrinsically motivated, i.e., purely by wealth and fear of failure.

He started off life bullied at school, enduring dyslexia, and struggling to be successful. He tended to get on well with older students, instead of his own peer group.

He scrapped into Oxford through sheer belligerence and by sitting outside the teacher’s office for a whole day in December to secure an interview. During Oxford he embarked on his entrepreneurial career selling antique paintings which employed 10 people.

A successful career as a Eurobond trader at Goldman preceded for 12 years, before he moved to the Japanese bank Nomura, where he set up his own buyout fund. He famously made a mountain of money by buying and selling pubs. One attribute (similar to Bob Iger) he says has made him successful is the ability to change his mind when he received new information, and able to accept the short-term pain that comes with that. Bob’s equivalent was pulling out of Twitter, Guy’s was not buying the 02 arena.

Terra Firma was then created as a spin off from Nomura, where he temporarily ran a top 10 global PE fund. Initially success followed, raising a tonne of capital, and providing good return to investors. From 2007 onwards however (the launch of his 2nd Fund) the business when down-hill. He became to obsesses with success for himself rather than successful his shareholders. Take his awful purchase of EMI, a musical business. Despite walking in during the DD process and identifying that the singers hung photos of themselves around the office, showing how obsessed they were with the past, he bought the business and staked his reputation on it to turn the business around. It sucked time/energy/made him ill and depressed and Terra Firma went downhill from then onwards.

He reflects on his career as working nonstop (a fact he likes to mention a lot), he did not see much of his wife or children as he had to live in Gurnsey for tax reasons, and reflects now whether it was all worth it? A telling line close to the end of the book. “A good mentor never tells you what to do. Instead, they ask the questions that nobody has the guts to ask”. Humility certainly was not Guy’s strength.

[P J Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent autobiography by a giant of his generation. I remember talking to him at length after he gave a speech to the Oxford Union in 1981 defending the compatibility of money with happiness, so it is interesting to hear his reflections 40 years later. I can see he did have some rough times but he did accomplish an awful lot more than most of us and happiness is always relative.
He also practically invented private equity, something I used myself in Dubai as part of its first dot-com success story, so his work benefited me quite considerably. I wrote about it in 'Opportunity Dubai: Making a Fortune in the Middle East'. Indeed he made a great many people rich and employed hundreds of thousands of others while improving their businesses.
It is just a shame that he ended up a tax exile. But then Britain is a tax haven for foreigners but not its own citizens, an inconsistency born from its socialist past.

[Gavin Rihoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unputdownable. A business career on a different scale, impressive, eye opening. It’s an easy read and very entertaining, comes with warts and all.

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a readable book, but ultimately suffers from the flaws of its author. The man sounds like a nightmare to work for (which in fairness he readily admits). It seemed like his modus operandi was to push everyone to their mental and physical breaking point and be as unapologetically difficult as possible at all times. I get that's the culture in private equity, and everyone is paid handsomely for it, but the whole blinkered pursuit of money and working to death as a badge of honour culture left me feeling hollow. He also says he buys businesses to realise untapped value, but the successes seem hit and miss, with extraordinary collateral damage done on the way to companies and their people. If the aim of his book was to generate empathy for him (i.e. how he managed his dyslexia and the sob story about his exiled life in Guernsey) unfortunately that failed. I left the book with zero sympathy for the guy. His life seems simply to confirm the age old truism that money does not buy happiness. For someone with such a long pedigree in business, he also seemed surprisingly naive about how time intensive and costly litigation is - his choice to continue his hopeless Citi case across two jurisdictions before ultimately abandoning it shows a serious lack of judgment. He's lived a hell of a life, but I'm not sure all the money outweighs the misery.

[Ed G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing because despite the title there are very few lessons to be learnt about Private Equity. Furthermore the detail on the actual deals is very limited - the only one to some degree is EMI, but you have no idea how investors did. To be fair, I only listened via an audio book so its hard to go back and focus on anything but a conclusion with some key lessons (i.e. being true to the title) would have added far more value to readers. His early days are fascinating up until him joining Nomura but then years of deals are glossed over and its more a personal take on his life and little on PE and what makes a great deal, or the sort of companies he goes for etc. I suspect the title may draw you in like it did me, and it was a useful read, but no key takeaways so a wasted opportunity for Guy to not educate people who wanted to learn something. Also having the audited returns for each fund since Terra Firma's inception would be fascinating too.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A winners tale...

What my 👂 heard 👇

I feel I have another deal in me
He proved a true friend
My confidence blossomed
I was well off but not rich enough to say get lost
A good leader will delegate and focus on the visions
He's a dangerous adversary
The potential was tantalizing
He's my biggest paymaster
United States spends more money on litigation after deducting damages then I spend on research and development for the entire country including both state and private
I put my cases together brick by brick
He has a candid ability to get to the emotional center of a case
I'm reevaluating my approach to business

[Conor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insights from a respected Dealmaker in his heyday. Can’t help but feel it doesn’t reflect Guy in a very good light given his decision making and personality as a manager. Closing remarks insinuate Altruism in some capacity but difficult to identify much of this throughout. His mention of sustainability and environmental considerations seem to be part of his conscious but are heavy contradicted through his actions and much neglected.

If you are looking for a book on Private Equity business, there are much better ones out there. And I can’t say it leaves much to be desired besides that. Some useful insights and lessons along the way.

[Tom Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

- obviously some degree of spin but more candid than expected
- things seem simple in hindsight, in the moment it’s not so clear, hindsight bias
- liquidity is vital and often not available when you need it most
- not to be constrained to one niche, guy worked across securitisation, public-to-private, restaurants, real estate, etc.
- good business discipline can be enacted through cap structure e.g recapitalisation to higher debt relative to equity increases management performance due to legal obligations of debt

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rare insight into the life and work of one of the more well known private equity deal makers. This is a curious blend between a unique autobiography, insights into the more traditional debt/structuring-driven corner of the PE market and a psychogram of an individual telling his side of the story / trying to connect the dots retrospectively. While a very interesting read overall, I was left feeling that the latter prevented a true peak behind the curtain - both on the business and the private side post his childhood.

[Navdeep Pundhir · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has three parts- the first 65 pages are the most boring introduction to a seemingly successful guy's early life. The next half until he gets to the EMI quagmire is fantastic! The ending is as terrible as it gets for the man portrays himself as a yesteryear's hero, who now can do no right. Overall, you come across a fairly rich but terribly alone and depressed, overweight Briton who just couldn't help himself. A sad book, badly edited.

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

To succeed in private equity one needs to possess the following characteristics:
- Mental endurance with consistent hard work
- Creativity in ideas
- Ability to execute (or have someone that can execute)

Otherwise the book was reasonably miserable. Long descriptions of failures, however he was successful in business. Finishing up, he said he was unhappy he spent his life in business success.

You can skip this one.

[Hamad · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I, myself, work at an infrastructure PE fund, I found this book relevant, relatable, and educational. I liked how he was fair in writing the autobiography. He did not glorify his wins, rather listed his failures too, which were a lot!

Check out my full review on Substack!
https://finbookvalue.substack.com/p/t...

[Udhara De Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn’t expect to enjoy a book about the private equity world this much. Surprisingly honest, human and vulnerable tales from a businessman who’s been through the personal and professional highs and lows of the finance world. The final takeaway from the book is that a zest for life is a feeling no amount of material success can buy.

[Rui Wang · Rating 3 out of 5]

The guy made a few hundred million but still feels the whole world owes him big time. The EMI thing, he came across as quite naive and silly.

He did a lot of complaining about his long working days, all the time travelling, no time to see family etc… yet he always magically find himself vacationing in Hawaii, visiting Antarctica, skiing in Canada 😀

[Marcelo Mtanous · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice combination of storytelling and detailed insights. Impressive ascent in the business world. His grit and resilience from early age, Oxford acceptance and then into IB and his private equity career, stand out to me. The detailed bluntly description of the PE deals makes it quite entertaining to read.

[Burcu USLU · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took me sooo long to read I feel like the start and middle of the book were interesting about the peak of his career lots of career changes and deals and stuff. The last 100 pages tho wasn’t exactly a page-turner which I guess is expected from nonfiction sometimes. But was interesting for sure glad I read definitely learnt more about how the private equity world works😛

[Pratik Kothari · Rating 4 out of 5]

A refreshing read about the life of a private equity investor who also acted as an operator, guy hands and his fund. running an actual business is so much more challenging than pure investing. Clears some halo effect around the private equity world, in terms of their returns and how clueless even they are. Honest, and insightful book for anyone curious about what really goes on behind the scenes.

[Dan Zwirn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pioneer in the intersection of securitization and private equity, Hands has written a compelling and understandable book for those interested in finance. That said, an additional dose of dispassionate introspection might have provided clarity for each of the financial and human stories here.

[edward kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt slightly like an ego-stroke at times. A classic case of man gets rich, explains his trials and tribulations, realises it probably wasn't worth it and now cares about the environment.

Guessing it's not hard to pontificate from a bond lair in Guernsey.

[Oliver Monagahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed reading this book, it was easy to read and contained interesting stories and insight into the work of Guy Hands. I do feel like the end is pretty biased to him and paints guy in a good light when perhaps he wasn’t being the nicest person to those around him

[Demi Ogunwusi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect balance of story-telling and detail - would highly recommend

[Luke Robison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Easy reading, odd bloke

[Alvaro De Torres · Rating 3 out of 5]

No wonder he made a mess of the EMI acquisition, it is difficult to read a more silly analysis on the music industry and to apply more stupid recipes to run the company !!